The Church Backs Occupy Wall Street

And there's even more heartburn for the GOP base: Vatican support for a supra-national body to regulate the entire global economy! Compare this with Herman Cain's praise for Christ as the "perfect conservative":

For over 2,000 years the world has tried hard to erase the memory of the perfect conservative, and His principles of compassion, caring and common sense.

And don't forget the Sermon on the 999 plan. Tom Reese predicted exactly that – and it would be well worth reporters asking, say, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich where they stand on this: with the Church or against it. Both have displayed their Catholicism on their sleeves lately, and both insist that their faith informs their values. So what will they say about this Vatican document? Or will they quietly ignore it, as usual, as they did on torture?

The truth is that Catholic social teaching has always regarded market capitalism as immoral if not strongly regulated to protect the weak and the poor. The escalating inequality in the US would place the Church firmly on the left of the Democratic party. And the deeper truth is that Jesus had no politics, but believed that all wordly possessions and success mattered only as an impediment to finding God. The West is based on the rejection of this Christianity, not its fulfilment. But do not expect the GOP theocons to grapple with that too much. Their heads might explode.